Toyota believes sales of the new Camry due next year won't slide, despite the car making no long making the nameplate locally.

Toyota is aiming to sell one in every four new vehicles sold in Australia as part of an ambitious “stretch target” aimed at solidifying its dominant top selling position.

Speaking to Drive two weeks after he took up his position as president of Toyota Australia, Dave Buttner spoke boldly of a goal to account for a quarter of the 1.1-million-vehicle-plus new-car market, even after the brand closes its local manufacturing operations by the end of 2017.

“I still think we can grow our volume and share over the next few years,” said Buttner confidently.

Toyota’s market share peaked at 23.6 per cent in 2008 and has dropped back to about 18 per cent in the face of intense competition and the arrival of new brands.

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He said post-Australian manufacturing there was still potential to further grow sales with a purely imported model range.

“I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all [a market share of 20 per cent or more] and indeed I think it could be greater,” said Buttner, confirming 25 per cent market share was the internal target for the Japanese brand. “If we think like number one, act like number two we’ll always try and lead the market.”

Buttner said the 25 per cent market share the brand has been targeting for more than a decade remained in place and was a “realistic” goal.

“You always have to have an aspiration and that challenges the business in a way that perhaps it’s not challenged if there’s some easy targets there. That’s pretty much the Toyota way, you have a target, there’s an element of stretch in it but you do everything in your business to still strive to achieve it.”

He said it would involve introducing new products and working harder on after-sales and ownership experiences.

“I still think we can play a very, very strong role in shoring up greater customer loyalty, putting ourselves even more on the consideration set than we are now and showing our really showing customer centricity at every touchpoint, which brings people who may have left the brand, bringing them back to the brand.”

The target of 25 per cent market share – something that has not been achieved in Australia for decades – is something Toyota has been working on since before 2005, when it was settling in to a dominant run at the top of the sales charts.

Toyota has led the Australian new-car market since 2003 with a market share that has at times surpassed 20 per cent.

Buttner conceded life dominating the mid-sized market with its Camry would be tougher once local manufacturing ceased, partly because of the loyalty (especially from governments) and incentives for locally produced vehicles.

“There’s no doubt … when you’re producing a lot locally … a whole lot of effort goes in to ensure you maximise your volume to keep your plant operational, to give your suppliers good through-put volume,” said Buttner. “But as we head into next year with the big new-look Camry we believe we can sustain volumes through that period.

As expected he said Toyota would continue with the Camry nameplate – a brand known globally – and said the model would be a major part of the brand’s focus moving forward.

“We have to ensure we don’t allow a diminishing in volume because if anything we have to rebuild our volume and rebuild our share over the next few years.”

17 comments so far

If there's a brand that can do it, it's Toyota. Aussie motorists are positively mad for Toyota – it's in their motoring DNA. And look at the Toyota line up, they've got a heavy hitter in pretty much every segment of the market. And in the case of Hilux, the model is positively ancient compared to its competitors and yet it comprehensively blows them out of the water in every sales period. Not to mention Toyota's virtual monopoly on the Australian rural and bona fide off-road market.

Consider also that Toyota's greatest strength – the hybrid market – is still relatively minute in this country.

There are probably a considerable number of lapsed Toyota buyers who were tempted away to other brands by cute styling and clever marketing. But those drivers who fell by the wayside are currently learning what must be expensive lessons is what constitutes true automotive quality. For a great many of those who now drive said cute Peugeots or Volkswagens or whatever else, their return to the Toyota stable probably can't come soon enough. Like homing pigeons they will surely find their way home.

25% might one day seem rather conservative, when you think about it.

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Shank's Pony

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May 15, 2014, 5:36PM

...err there is this company called Mazda, who make much more stylish, better driving and more upmarket cars that compete in many segments as Toyota and also have a reputation of excellent quality and rock solid Japanese reliability, not to mention Ford who also have a great product line-up, Honda who have a somewhat conservative but still high quality, high reliability line up..ditto Nissan and Subaru..oh and then there are the Koreans...which offer a very comparable product with excellent styling and more value... 1 in 4 sales is NOT conservative, it's very ambitious...

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Seats and a steering wheel

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May 17, 2014, 11:52AM

Oh come on, Shank's Pony. Toyotas sell well because people who know nothing about cars perceive them as reliable. That's it. There is no other reason to choose a Toyota over anything else. Where you are very wrong, is where you say that buyers who have bought other brands have been disappointed and will return to Toyota. Mazda, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Subaru all have very satisfied customers. (Maybe not VW!) And the owner of a recent Mazda will be satisfied not only by reliability, but also by owning a car that is better to drive, and a lot more special than some dreary Toyota. Just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it is the best. Just look at what are the most popular shows on TV!!!

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BP

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May 17, 2014, 2:04PM

BP,You must be very smart. At least smarter than Toyota drivers.Nowadays there are so many smart people on the web and I don't know who is fake, who is genuine.

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sean t

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May 20, 2014, 11:22PM

Gee this is a hard one. Do we believe Gerry Dorizas who represents a brand who will jettison their only decent car and will sell underdone and unexciting cars like the Barina, Cruze, Malibu et al which the market does not rate highly and also represents a brand that has been losing market share steadily for more than a decade!

OR do we believe Dave Buttner who represents a brand that has been increasing in market share for more than a decade and who is slowly moving away from unexciting cars that certainly are not underdone like those from GM Korea and also represents a brand that has been an effective importer for decades and a brand that is increasing dealerships, especially one brand dealerships while Holden's dealership numbers have been falling!

Such an easy decision. In Gerry's case those immortal words of Dale Kerrigan come to mind "Tell 'em they're dreamin'"!

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MVF

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May 15, 2014, 6:24PM

MVF, I hear what you are saying, but it's worth remembering that Holden plan on bringing back Astra, Insignia and the new Opel Cascada convertible in 2015. .Perhaps Holden have seen the light and realise they need to inject some the Opel hero cars that served them so well in the late 90's to the late 00's? Then there is a new gen Camaro and maybe Cadillac product on the horizon which by all accounts looks to be very very good...

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Seats and a steering wheel

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May 17, 2014, 11:56AM

Those last comments about pushing volume to keep the factory turning over make me think the poor old Australian consumer is going to cop a flogging on price, post manufacturing. Will Drive.com and other media segments advocate for the consumer if that does happen??

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Boo

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May 16, 2014, 8:46AM

Boo I'm not sure what you think any motoring journal should do? Advocate what? We live in a capitalist society. Toyota and every other manufacturer are free to charge as little or as much as the market will bare. They don't owe us anything.

The ones really in for a shock and a lesson in this, are those who for some twisted reason believe that when Holden and Toyota stop Australian production, BMW and Mercedes will suddenly feel compelled to slash and burn prices. Even if the government were to drop the Luxury tax, you can bet both brands will eventually claw back half of that if not all of it. Why discount a car in the most profitable market they both have? That makes no sense, while sales volumes are reasonable and your dealers are happy.

Eventually as the Australian dollar declines to its historic average, the price of imported cars will go up sharply. The difference being this time around, there is no local alternative.

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Daniel D

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May 26, 2014, 7:37AM

I never knew there'd be such demand for what is essentially scrap metal.